The Crush
by MYZ-chan
Summary: The not so typical  seduction of the spider involving a socially inept Kaguya, the fatal disease called 'the crush,' and food poisoning.  Did we forget to mention the food poisoning?  /KimimaroKidoumaru/
1. Kimimaro, the illness

It was with a frown on his face that Kimimaro came to the conclusion that Kidoumaru was a disease.

Kimimaro had first noticed something very strange several weeks after beating his fellow teammate into the ground, breaking several of the younger's arms in the process. After the incident, whenever they passed in the halls afterwards, Kidoumaru would look not look Kimimaro in the eye. The darker-skinned male would continue to walk down the hall as if Kimimaro was not there at all.

No. That was incorrect. He would nod his head slightly, the only acknowledgement that he had noticed the elder and then continue to walk at an even pace towards the gaming room, where the twins would most surely be waiting.

It had not bothered him at first. After all, it was a way that Kidoumaru was showing his respect for the Kaguya, and acknowledging that he was inferior to the elder. As it should be, of course—the six-armed man usually had no tact or sense of how to act around his superiors except for Lord Orochimaru.

However, after some time for some very obscure reason, Kimimaro felt pain whenever Kidoumaru did this. It wasn't the sort of pain that came with being flooded with sudden power, nor was it the sort of pain that came with ripping out your bones. No, this pain ached in your stomach, giving it a faint squeeze every time you thought about your comrade-of-sorts simply avoiding your gaze.

In the end, he chalked it up to ripping out one too many ribs and made a note to himself that it was probably time to start using his humerus to guard instead.

However, when the pain refused to stop after a period of three weeks of Kidoumaru continuing to be silent around Kimimaro (a rare feat on the formerly mentioned sound ninja's part), his face started to appear when Kimimaro closed his eyes to rest, and he started to wonder about how Kidoumaru really thought about him—that was when he knew he had a problem.

And of course, with most of his problems, he went to Kabuto.

"I don't understand it," he said monotonously as Kabuto stared at him over the clipboard. The gray-haired man was almost impossible to read, and Kimimaro often felt strangely uneasy around him, despite the fact that he was his doctor. "It is almost as if…something is burning my insides when he does that. I do not know if he did something to me at our last spar, but whatever it is, I would like to know immediately."

Kabuto continued to stare at him. There was no outward reaction to what Kimimaro had just said, but for some very strange reason, Kimimaro had the feeling that Lord Orochimaru's right hand man—was laughing at him. Rather loudly.

And he did not like it one bit.

"Do you know the cure, Kabuto?" he asked evenly. The machine measuring his heartbeat continued to beep slowly.

Kabuto cleared his throat once, then twice before scribbling something down onto his clipboard. Kimimaro could feel the gray-haired medic begin a new act, put on a new face—the face of the seriously concerned doctor.

The man felt his throat clog.

"How long has this been going on again, Kimimaro?"

The white-haired man frowned, calculating the time span. "About three to five weeks."

"Never before?"

"No."

"And this only happens around Kidoumaru?"

Kimimaro nodded, not seeing where this was going. He had already explained this to the medic, had he not? Had he not been clear when he had been trying to explain?

"Does he seem to affect anyone else?"

Kimimaro shook his head. "I have not witnessed any changes in the others' demeanors."

The elder shinobi adjusted his glasses. "Are there any other symptoms?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Other symptoms?"

Kabuto sighed, shifting in his seat. The machine continued to beep steadily, even as Kimimaro sat up. "For example, does your heart beat faster around him? Do your cheeks feel warm when he gets close to you? Perhaps your palms get sweaty?"

The only indication that Kimimaro was thinking over what Kabuto had just said was the slight crease in his forehead. "A bit."

"Which one?"

"All of them. Particularly the first."

"I see," Kabuto muttered, adjusting his glasses again. His mouth was pursed into a small frown, his eyes solemn. "I think I know what the problem is."

Immediately, the white-haired Kimimaro was at rapt attention. "You do?"

"Yes." Kabuto nodded his head sadly, and Kimimaro's heart (or what was left of it, anyways), lurched. "I'm afraid you are ill, Kimimaro, with what is commonly known as 'the Crush'."

"What does it do?"

Orochimaru's right hand man proceeded to make a few notes on his clipboard. "It induces illogical feelings of affection from one human to another, despite gender, though sometimes, that can play into it as well. The Crush can last from a few weeks to years—to this date, it has tortured and killed many shinobi of low and high caliber."

For once, Kimimaro let his guard slip down, his eyes widening. "Is it that serious?"

Kabuto's lips twitched. Barely twitched, but Kimimaro could see them. His eyes narrowed. "Kabuto."

"Calm down, Kimimaro," Kabuto said, quite calm himself despite the fact that his patient was sending him a glare worthy of Uchiha Itachi. In fact, if the man had a pair of Sharingan at this moment, Kabuto would probably be on the floor writhing in pain. "It's a very mild condition, though it can turn serious if we don't treat it."

"Tell me," was the instant demand. "I cannot afford to be a liability to Lord Orochimaru any more than I already am."

Kabuto felt his lips twitch again.

"Well," he said calmly, sitting down across from Kimimaro, "first, you have to tell Kidoumaru what's going on."

"About this illness?"

The elder boy nodded gravely. "Yes."

"Should I tell Lord Orochimaru?"

Kabuto briefly considered. "No, for the time being."

"Why?"

"He has too much on his mind right now." Kabuto sighed, leaning back in his chair. "There are many more things that one must do to rid of the Crush, but I can only tell you one more thing for now. If you do too much right now, it'll strain the illness even further and could end up in your death."

Without any further hesitation, Kimimaro leaned forward, anticipating Kabuto's every word.

Thirty minutes later, when Kimimaro left Kabuto's office, Kabuto busied himself with adjusting the monitors.

And it was only when he was completely, completely sure that Kimimaro was out of ear range that he began laugh quietly.

Despite being a formidable shinobi, a cold-hearted killer and a terrifying adversary, Kimimaro was still horribly naïve.

* * *

Because I decided that I needed to work on some crack pairings and a few more to learn how to write Kidoumaru. Because I want to be able to write him ICly for once. It was also a bit difficult to keep Kimimaro in character and still have all his loyalties to Orochimaru. :|a So I guess this is practice?

...man, I feel bad for Kidoumaru. XD


	2. Kidoumaru, the confrontation

Kidoumaru was usually confident in his abilities to determine another's behavior. From Tayuya, he had discerned that no matter what he did, she would hurl an insult or two his way, occasionally making up for it with a gruff apology that would quickly turn into an insult again. With the twins, Sakon was the more brash and callous one, the one that tended to pick fights with others, even his teammates; Ukon was the one who was more or less the peacemaker when he wasn't riled up as well. And Jiroubou—well, he was Jiroubou. Sarcastic, a bit brash, and really talented when it came to pushing your buttons, but when it came down to it he'd be the most likely one to help you out of your bad days. As for Sasuke, he was Orochimaru's pet and tended to be a bit of a brat when encountered by people that actually gave a damn about how he was doing today. No problems there.

The problem was Kimimaro.

Kimimaro had, time and time again, proved himself to be a stumper in Kidoumaru's abilities. Whenever Kidoumaru thought he'd irritated the elder man with the correct word or action, he was immediately proved wrong by Kimimaro turning the other cheek. When Kidoumaru thought he had sated the white-haired Kaguya, it ended up with the spider-like man pinned to the floor with an incredibly sharp bone next to his throat and/or through his intestines. At the very end, Kidoumaru gave up on analyzing Kimimaro and tried to avoid him when possible—but not obviously. Obviously meant fear.

And in short, when it came to Kimimaro, Kidoumaru was scared shitless.

So today, after a long, hard day of training, when he turned around to find the Kaguya heading straight for him, he almost jumped out of his sandals.

But he didn't.

Instead, he glanced around the courtyard for anyone else in sight, in case Kimimaro was looking for someone else. Having no such luck, he looked up as Kimimaro was progressively getting closer and closer to him. Oh God, what had he done now? He was pretty sure he hadn't done anything to warrant another beating, and Kimimaro wasn't the type, anyways, but maybe he had done something stupid? Maybe Kimimaro had found out about the candy stash he had raided last week—

Kidoumaru's mind was still in overdrive when Kimimaro walked straight up to him and stopped but about two meters away. Green eyes bored into Kidoumaru's, and Kidoumaru's thinking process proceeded to shut completely down.

He was going to die, wasn't he? Damn, he hadn't even made his will yet! Which was a pretty stupid idea not to, but he hadn't thought there reason for it until now. Quickly, he began to think. He would leave his technical and fiction books to Tayuya, the only one out of the group beside himself who really appreciated them. Sakon and Ukon would get any weapons he had left over, and Jiroubou would get the rest of his chocolate stash and the very few cooking books Kidoumaru actually—

"Kabuto has informed me that I am ill."

Kidoumaru blinked.

Well.

Maybe he wasn't.

But why tell Kidoumaru?

"You got another one?" Kidoumaru said before he could stop himself.

Okay, now he was.

Immediately, Kimimaro's eyes narrowed, taking another step forward. Kidoumaru found that he could not move for the fact that one, he was backed up already into a training post, and two, he was pretty damn sure that if he didn't move, Kimimaro wouldn't be able to see him anymore. Dinosaur Kimimaro. Yeah.

"Do not make light of this," Kimimaro said shortly, sounding more irritated than Kidoumaru had ever heard him in his life. "This is your doing."

Kidoumaru blinked again. This time, all three eyes, though the third no one could see.

"Sorry?"

"I am ill," Kimimaro said slowly, and less irritated this time, "with a disease that Kabuto says is called the 'Crush'. It induces feelings of affection from one human being to another, and I cannot have that hindering my work for Lord Orochimaru."

Kidoumaru was pretty sure that his heart had decided to give out, as well as the path of blood and oxygen to his brain. Surely he hadn't heard that. Really. There was no way that Kimimaro of all people would say that. Well, not unless it was to Lord Orochimaru because Kidoumaru had always known (hell, everyone knew) that Kimimaro was crazy for him, but never to any of Kimimaro's teammates.

Right?

"So you're saying," Kidoumaru said just as slowly as his elder, "that you have a crush on me."

Kimimaro's brow furrowed. "You have heard of this disease?"

"Disease? What—" Kidoumaru stopped. Wait. Kimimaro really believed that this was a disease, didn't he? Which meant that he had to be at least a little bit freaked out. Which also meant that—

Kidoumaru was in an advantageous situation right now.

Revenge was never Kidoumaru's style. He had seen enough with it when Sasuke came into the Sound village, and he didn't want anything to do with the stuff. No, what was his style were finding assets.

Assets to the game.

If Kimimaro really did have a crush on him, no matter how little, then that could benefit Kidoumaru on the battlefield. It could also give Kimimaro reason to ease up on him during training, and while his fellow teammates might scowl at him for that, did give them an advantage as well. This would mean that they at least had some hold over Kimimaro, Orochimaru's once favorite and a threat. And though Kidoumaru wasn't exactly gay (he wasn't sure what he was, really—none of the Sound were), he was fairly sure that he could pull it off.

For once in his life, Kidoumaru could have kissed Kabuto right then and there. Or at least given him a handshake. The guy still gave him the willies.

"Well, um, I'm sorry." Quickly, he smiled at Kimimaro. It was a quick thing, fleeting, but it was a test.

And sure enough, the Kaguya blinked, looking away for a brief second before looking back.

Kidoumaru wasn't sure whether to be glad or horrified.

Don't get him wrong—it was a bit relieving to see that the Kaguya actually had human emotions, fucked up or not as they were. Even though they had taken nineteen years to develop. On the other hand, it was a bit eerie to see the once stoic Kimimaro actually break someone's gaze to look away and quickly redeem himself.

"Kabuto has also informed me," Kimimaro continued on, "that in order to cure this, I must tell you of this disease."

Kidoumaru nodded, suppressing a grin. "Which you just did."

"Yes." Here, Kimimaro paused. "He has also informed me that the first step in clearing this illness is to ask you on a date. I told him that I did not know what to ask you and I was not sure of the date that he was referring to, but—"

Kimimaro stopped. Kidoumaru was staring at him with eyes bulging out of his head, and he began to cough, pounding himself on the chest with two of his right arms.

"What is the matter?"

"Nothing," Kidoumaru choked out, eyes watering. "Nothing. Just—uh—a date. Really? He said that?"

Kimimaro nodded, and Kidoumaru could see in his eyes that he was—he was worried. It was only a smidgen, barely enough to be counted humane, but it was there.

How bad was this crush, really?

"Well, um," Kidoumaru coughed, straightening and clearing his throat several times. "Do you know what kind of a date he's referring to, Kimimaro?"

The elder hesitated, and Kidoumaru could see that his pride was flaring. Instantly, he held up his hands—all six of them—in an attempt to make peace. "Okay, okay, I guess you do."

"I…" Kimimaro struggled with himself for a moment before a flicker in his eyes indicated that the pride had been pushed to the side for the moment. "I do not."

Damn. This crush must really be bad.

"Well, a date is just a kind of event, you see, where a person takes another person out to a place to just—hang out. You know?" Kidoumaru had never felt so awkward in his life. Well, there was that one time where he had walked in on Sakon and Ukon in the shower together when they were twelve, and they hadn't been doing anything weird or anything, but it wasn't like Kidoumaru had ever wanted to see them naked. But hadn't Kabuto bothered to explain to Kimimaro what he was saying at all? And why hadn't Kimimaro asked Kabuto?

Oh.

Damn, Kabuto could be sly when he wanted to be.

"Hang out?"

"Be together," Kidoumaru quickly explained, resisting the urge to rub the back of his head. No signs of weakness, Kidoumaru.

"I see," Kimimaro mused. "Then, that is a cure?"

Kidoumaru shrugged. "If the doc says so, I guess it is."

A brief silence.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Will you go with me on this date?"

Kidoumaru finally gave into the urge and scratched the back of his head. "Sure, why not." Then he tilted his head to the side. "When and where d'you want to go?"

* * *

Second chapter, the only one for now. Significantly lower quality than chapter one, but I'm working on it? I'm also going to be really busy from now on, and I'm just posting when I can - which is now. :P Don't expect much for a while until I get ahold of my schedule.

Thanks, Minotaur, for reviewing! :D


	3. Kimimaro, the first date

This was decidedly one of the most awkward moments of Kimimaro's life.

Kimimaro knew that he wasn't the most social person around. Far from it - he was probably one of the most reclusive of all the Sound shinobi, choosing to stay by himself and train or simply do whatever, as long as it wasn't against Lord Orochimaru's will. He wasn't ashamed of this, either - Kimimaro thought himself that socializing with unnecessary and weak people was a waste.

So he was very aware of being a complete hypocrite as they sat across from each other at a small table in a very, very small ramen booth. The only source of food in the sound village besides the market, it was on the very edge of the town where the small stream of tourists could go to chow. Of course, they usually came out with food poisoning if they tried to eat the uzumaki, but that was beside the point.

The point was that they were sitting here, stirring their ramen, and Kimimaro honestly did not know what to do.

Kidoumaru cleared his throat. "So, uh," he began, fingers fidgeting with the table cloth. "The ramen's good."

Actually, Kimimaro hadn't even tasted the ramen yet, but he nodded despite that. "Yes."

For some reason, this seemed to make Kidoumaru fidget even more. This time, with two hands instead of just one. A third hand rubbed the chopsticks together slowly; Kimimaro stared, mesmerized. He could hear a faint buzzing in his ears, his heart slowly pounding into a gallop.

He detested this disease. Dearly.

"I can stop, if you want me to."

Kimimaro looked up, startled. Kidoumaru was now staring at him with a strange look on his face, and though he was smiling, it seemed very tentative. "Well, it seemed like it was bothering you, so…" he trailed off, instead choosing to look towards the small streams of people outside.

Now, it wasn't that Kidoumaru wasn't an unattractive man. Even Kimimaro had enough sense to tell who was or wasn't good-looking - it was just that he had never really cared before. But now it seemed as though he _did_. Looking at Kidoumaru now, it was almost like looking at a battle - analyzing every move, every detail before making another move.

Well, he had analyzed - but he was at loss as to what move he should make.

"It's fine," he said laconically, choosing to pick up his chopsticks and carefully pick up some noodles from the bowl, placing them into his mouth and chewing. "I was not bothered."

Silence permeated the air. Kimimaro himself was aware of it - almost hyperaware, you could say. Kidoumaru had stopped tapping his fingers, and now they lay on the table, thumbing the wood. They weren't just dark, Kimimaro determined - they were dusty brown with a tinge of gray rimming his light pinkish-white nails. How strange.

Make effort for conversation, he remembered Kabuto saying, smiling that quiet, mysterious smile of his. Don't simply sit there in silence. Ask him questions about himself. Such as:

"How - are you?" Kimimaro cleared his throat, the silence breaking neatly in two as Kidoumaru started, turning to stare at the Kaguya. "Have you been well?"

At first, all Kidoumaru did was stare. After thirty seconds or so, Kimimaro had made a quick check to confront Kabuto about his fake questions when -

"I'm fine." Kidoumaru smiled that tentative smile again. It was decidedly uncomfortable. "And yeah, I guess so."

"Do they still hurt?"

A blink. "What?"

Kimimaro could not determine what was so confusing about the question. Was it not obvious what he was asking? "Your arms. Do they still hurt?"

There was a pause. Kimimaro was beginning to have his doubts about the younger's intelligence. "Oh. Yeah - I mean, no. No, they don't." Another pause. "Thanks."

Now it was Kimimaro who blinked. "For what?"

"For asking." This time when he smiled, it wasn't so uncomfortable. "That was nice."

Kimimaro heard the humming in his ears again, loud and furious. The back of his neck felt abnormally warm - the Crush in its works, he determined. He had to look away. "It's only proper," he finally said, casting his eyes at the floor.

"Still, you didn't have to ask," Kidoumaru said offhandedly, picking up the bowl and beginning to down its contents. "'S not like after every battle we have to send a fruit basket and a 'get well soon' card to our opponents, you know?"

"I suppose." Another moment's pause, and then Kimimaro picked up his chopsticks again. "That would, of course, depend on if they were still alive."

When Kidoumaru grinned, he could feel his heart almost stop from pounding so hard. "I guess so, huh?"

This time, though there was silence, Kimimaro could feel the tension had dropped considerably.

It almost - almost - felt comfortable.

Perhaps this socializing wasn't as idiotic as he had thought.

Though this Crush was still very irritating. If only it would stop heating up his skin and making his heart pound, then maybe he would be able to live through it.

* * *

Considerably shorter chapter this time. Sorry about that.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, and thank you for being so patient. I know it's been a really long time since I updated. :D But hey, this was their (very awkward) first date. Please tell me if I'm doing something weird with Kimimaro's characterization. I'm seriously uncomfortable with it.


	4. Kidoumaru, the gossip zone

"He asked you how you were?"

"I know, right? It scared the crap out of me too."

"You fucking liar, there's no way that asshole could have ever asked you, out of every shit-head in this room how you were! It's not in his coding!"

"Yeah, well, it happened."

"Look," Jirobo said, frowning, "we all know that pretty much the only way to get Kimimaro to ask how anyone is is to get him shitfaced."

"Which never happens, dumbass," Tayuya snarled, grabbing a brownie off the counter and ignoring Jirobo's protests ("They're not done yet, Tayuya!"). "Look, did he even say it how you said it? It wasn't 'you are well, you insignificant mortal,' or 'how have you, the irritating scum on the bottom of my shoes, been?' I mean, fuck, he couldn't have just said 'how are you?' That's impossible! It's practically been scientifically fucking proven."

"Watch your language, Tayuya," Jirobo said out of reflex, only to get the remains of the unfinished brownie hurled at his face.

"But dude, she's right," Sakon snorted, glugging down some tap water. "I mean, Kimimaro's a cold-hearted bastard. We were kind of dubious he asked you out in the first place - "

"Let alone saying he has a crush on you - " Ukon interjected.

"And now he asks you how you are? Dude, what the hell? You've got to be high on soldier pills or something," Sakon finished, setting the overused plastic bottle down on the table. "Seriously, if we didn't see you and him walking together, we'd have probably thrown you in the dishwasher or something to clean out your brain."

"Which wouldn't be the first time," Ukon muttered, chomping on a brownie (Jirobo had pretty much given up on people stealing them, as he only sighed and continued trying to figure out the techniques of the French croissant). "The point is that Kimimaro's socially retarded, Kidoumaru. There's no way he could have even come up with the idea to ask how you were. He's - "

"A robot," Tayuya finished, stretching out her legs on the couch and yawning. "Fuck, man, I'm still having a hard time believing you actually went on a date." She snorted, pushing her red hair out of her face. "Faggots."

"Mutation," Kidoumaru shot back at her, avoiding her swiping boot at his head. "Hey, it's true."

"You're the mutation, you six-armed freak," Tayuya snapped, scowling deeply.

"Enough," Jirobo sighed, sitting down on the floor with a carton of milk and a recipe book in front of him. "The point is, Kidoumaru, that there's no possible way that Kimimaro could have actually asked you that question. You had to have been tripping out on the ramen or something. We all know that stuff's poisonous anyways."

"It tastes good!" Kidoumaru protested. "And neither of us got sick afterwards, so."

"Kidoumaru." Jirobo gave him another dead look. "We're talking about the guy that broke your arms, ran you through with his thigh bone - whatever that's actually called - and nearly murdered you when we were thirteen."

Kidoumaru shrugged. He couldn't tell them of his plan yet, of the game he was trying to play. After all, while they were all good at keeping secrets, it would still change their attitudes towards Kimimaro subtly, and Kimimaro would be, indeed, able to detect that. "I know," he yawned, grinning at his large teammate. "Trust me, man, I know what I'm doing."

"I hope you do," Ukon groaned, swallowing the last of his second brownie. "You're walking on a bomb, Kidoumaru. Don't let it blow up in your face."

When Kidoumaru laughed, he didn't feel so confident anymore. "Sure thing."

The truth was that, while Kidoumaru was still scared shitless of the Kaguya, he had indeed seen something that he would have never thought he'd have ever seen before (actually, that was happening a lot with the white-haired man lately) - a sense of empathy. Well, at least a tad. Maybe a smidgen.

Preposterous, right?

Kidoumaru sighed, running his hand through his hair - or, at least, he tried to. In the knots of his hair, his nails caught and he had to viciously yank his fingers at least three times to free them from his frizzy mane. "Smooth," he muttered to himself before snickering and pulling out his ponytail. He was glad he hadn't acted like this in front of Kimimaro - that would have been disastrous.

Well, he thought quickly, trying to make up for the fact that yes, he did indeed care to a certain degree of how Kimimaro thought of him, if had been deemed unpresentable, there had been a slight chance of being run through (again) because when Kimimaro realized that the things he actually liked were not suitable, there would be hell to pay. Especially for the thing that he himself had deemed suitable.

At least, that was only what Kidoumaru could assume. It wasn't though he knew the guy on an extremely personal basis, though that thought was amusing, since they had known each other from childhood. Only in name, he reminded himself, and in strength. He began to pick out the knots from his hair, ignoring the stares of the others.

Well, Kimimaro wasn't as much of a bastard as he had originally thought, was all Kidoumaru could think of, pulling the third knot out from the tangles. And, you know, maybe he'd turn out to be nice. Maybe even have more feelings than just animosity and twisted semi-affection.

Okay, okay, he was stretching it a bit, but hey, it was as close to the truth as most were ever going to get, right?

"So, is there going to be a next time?" Jirobo asked slowly, still staring incredulously.

Kidoumaru shrugged before giving up, wringing out his fingers while pulling up his hair back into its frizzy ponytail. "I don't know. He didn't say anything about it, so I didn't bring it up."

As a matter of fact, it had come up. Once, when they were back, Kidoumaru had cleared his throat slightly before turning to face the white-haired man. "So," he said slowly. "That was pretty nice."

Kimimaro had stayed silent for a few moments before nodding deliberately. "Yes."

Kidoumaru hesitated. "Do you - " Man, he couldn't believe he was even saying this. He still couldn't believe that he had suggested that, but it was all for the game. The pros were outweighing the cons at the moment. "Do you, uh, want to go on another date? Later, I mean?"

Kimimaro tilted his head. "Is this customary?"

"Well, yeah." Kidoumaru shrugged. He was beginning to see the changes in Kimimaro's features - while they were still as controlled and emotionless as ever, there were slight flickers in its movements that only after several hours of being in the same room with him could you tell the differences. And right now, they were not pointing towards good signs. "We don't have to, if you don't want to, or - "

"I will think about it." The reply was terse, controlled before Kimimaro turned towards the door and proceeded to push it open. "I will seek you out when I have my answer."

When he vanished from sight, the door swinging shut with Kidoumaru still outside, staring incredulously at the metal gate, there was only one thought in his mind.

"You son of a bitch," Tayuya swore, picking through the (now empty) platter of brownies. "The fuck you just ate the last brownie."

Kidoumaru shrugged, licking off the last oily residue from his fingers. "Ask Jirobo to make more."

"But I wanted _that_ piece."

"Yeah, and so did I," Sakon muttered, staring with steel-plated eyes as Kidoumaru. "Wanna tag team?"

"Fuck yes."

And, with all thought of Kimimaro banished from his head, Kidoumaru ran for his life.

* * *

So this was more interaction between the members of the Sound team rather than Kidoumaru with Kimimaro. Sorry if you were expecting more of that than this.

Tayuya is so much fun to write. :D And she is technically a mutation - red hair is genetically not supposed to exist, so that's why Kidoumaru, being the nerd he is, called her that. Do they have that genetic knowledge in the ninja world? For now, yes.


	5. Kimimaro, the spar

Thirty minutes into the spar, Sasuke was on the floor panting like a dog, bleeding like a stuck fish, and Kimimaro still didn't feel better.

As his bones retracted back into his flesh, he concentrated on the familiar pain. The skin folding back over as the bones crunched and cracked back into place, the feeling of the skin stitching itself together again - all of this was strangely comforting as he flexed his arm and coughed lightly into his other hand. Even the feeling of his lungs rattling was better than having to remember the past three weeks.

Something inside of him clenched just at the mention of it.

Kimimaro didn't quite know how to feel. To be honest, he wasn't very good at it. But somehow, this small span of time had managed to shake him up quite a bit.

And, if he were to push down his pride and admit it, this felt a lot worse than watching his clan get massacred. Mostly because they were manipulative bastards, anyways, but watching them get blown to pieces still wasn't anything he'd wanted to witness.

But that wasn't the issue. The issue was Kidoumaru. Kidoumaru, who had been, once again, avoiding him in the halls, avoiding speaking to him unless necessary, and was, once again, refusing to look him in the eye. Kidoumaru, who had been acting like they hadn't gone out on one of those 'Dates' that Kabuto had prescribed and had basically been pretending that Kimimaro had not even caught the disease in the first place.

Kimimaro's stomach clenched again. For a moment, he worried about whether this was what killed the shinobis who caught the Crush. He would have to ask Kabuto about that.

Kidoumaru needed a lesson in respect. It was his fault that Kimimaro was sick in the first place. He could at least take some responsibility. Kimimaro might die from this humiliating disease, and the younger man wasn't even around long enough to schedule another 'Date'. Kabuto had said once a week would be sufficient, yet it had already been three since their last. At this rate -

He blinked, then pushed his hair behind his ears. For at least the fifth time this week, Kimimaro was unsure of why he was so concerned of how Kidoumaru was acting. Of course, this was for the better (or that was what he told himself). It wasn't as if he wanted the rest of the compound to know of his new ailment; Kidoumaru had the decency to know that.

And yet, he just couldn't convince himself.

Sasuke hissed.

Kimimaro glanced back down, staring passively as the boy struggled again to his knees, hissing rapidly through his teeth. Even after four years of living in the same village as him and living down the hall from the Uchiha, Kimimaro had never thought of him as a man. He felt that he was more a child than anything resembling a man, so fixed on revenge the boy had been. And now that Itachi had finally passed on (simple deterioration), the boy was wandering aimlessly through life in the compound - sparring, isolating himself, brooding. Kimimaro wasn't sure if he'd ever grow up, but it didn't make much of a difference to him.

"Again," Sasuke groaned, struggling to stand. The next second he had doubled over, clenching his side (where Kimimaro had struck him rather hard).

"Don't be foolish," was Kimimaro's simple reply. His hair fell back in his face again (Sasuke had torn out the bands that usually kept the hair at his temples from flying around), and he brushed it back out of his face impatiently.

You see, Kidoumaru? He thought. I no longer have the patience for anything. This is your fault. Take responsibility.

Vengeance? He let the thought pass through his mind before breathing out through his nostrils deliberately. Kimimaro had no need for vengeance. Especially not for -

"Foolish." Sasuke barked a laugh, and Kimimaro very nearly turned around right then and there to walk away. "Am I so foolish, for wanting power? For wanting to be able to defeat my brother?"

"Your brother is dead."

"I know!"

It was such a roar that Kimimaro nearly flinched back. Instead, he only allowed his eyes to widen slightly as Sasuke chewed on his lower lip angrily, his normally pale face flushed.

"I know," the boy said again. Something in his expression seemed to crumble before he closed off again to the world. Again, Kimimaro silently cursed Kidoumaru. Before this crush, he wouldn't have even noticed the boy's internal brooding (probably, though he was cursing Kidoumaru for this more out of mild frustration than anything else). "Spar with me again."

Another pulse of irritation. "I've already beaten you twice. Accept your defeat." Finally, he turned to go.

And Sasuke attacked.

Luckily, Kimimaro was fast enough to block the blow; Sasuke's kunai barely chipped the bone now protruding out of Kimimaro's arm. As Kimimaro held his ground, he caught a glimpse of wild, crazed eyes whirling with Sharingan and immediately looked away. Their arms trembled, each pushing to force the other back.

"Don't mock me," Sasuke gritted out, his teeth clenched. Kimimaro could hear them grinding together furiously, could see the blood staining their edges. "I will not be made a mockery of."

"You are making a fool of yourself," Kimimaro said simply, not letting on that he was tired, nor that his legs were beginning to shake slightly. He hadn't taken his medication today, a last minute, arrogant decision that he now regretted. While it didn't help substantially, it did help keep his stamina intact. "This will not prove a thing to anyone."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and Kimimaro, from the corner of his eye, could see the dots spiraling, whirling faster and faster. He could feel his legs bending under the pressure of the boy's kunai, and he briefly wondered whether the boy would kill him. "You - "

"Hey, hey."

Kimimaro's grip slackened for a second, just enough for Sasuke's to push forward. He stumbled back, his stomach clenching again before, slowly, he turned to where Sasuke was facing as well.

"Look, as much as I like to see you guys bonding, I think it's time to take a break, yeah?" Kidoumaru grinned, and Kimimaro's stomach clenched again. "Jiroubou made some awesome pie today. You guys should try it." When neither of them moved, Kidoumaru rolled his eyes. "Come on, don't be scared. It's just a little pie, and unless you're allergic to gooseberries, I think you'll be okay."

Sasuke's lips thinned before quietly straightening up and walking inside, leaving the elder two out in the training grounds alone. Kimimaro watched as the boy disappeared inside before letting his eyes flicker back to Kidoumaru, who was scratching the back of his head and watching -

Him.

If Kimimaro's stomach clenched even tighter, he was fairly certain that he would need to go see Kabuto.

"So, uh." Kidoumaru scratched the back of his head again, grinning sheepishly. "Uh, you wanna go inside?"

At first, Kimimaro had the most disgruntling urge to respond to him, even to take the hand the younger was offering to him. Then, slowly, deliberately, he shook of the urge and pushed himself up to a standing position, staring down the younger until Kidoumaru slowly lowered his hand and locked eyes with him. For a few moments, they stood in complete, tense silence. Nothing moved.

Kidoumaru's expression had changed from sheepishly amused to nervously guarded in a matter of seconds. The whites of his eyes were more prominent now as he stared back, standing out against his brown-grey skin. Kimimaro noticed that his eyes weren't actually completely black - tints of grey and murky brown lurked on the edges. He could hear the sound of their breathing, completely in sync.

Almost on reflex, he flexed his fingers. Kidoumaru tensed.

"Are we going to go in?"

Kidoumaru nearly jumped a foot. Kimimaro had to smuggle down a sudden surge of satisfaction, and an unfamiliar feeling of - of something. Something that made him feel quite nauseous.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Kidoumaru reached for the back of his head, and then, pausing, lowered his hand. A brief smile flickered back over his face, and Kimimaro felt his stomach clench again. "Okay."

They began to head back in silence. Kimimaro walked as evenly as possible, not letting on that his legs were feeling quite weak to Kidoumaru. The only indication that he wasn't feeling quite up to snuff was that he walked slightly behind the younger, though that was more to keep an eye on him than anything else. Kimimaro had never trusted anyone to walk behind him, and Kidoumaru was no exception. Especially since the man had passed this disease on in the first place.

He was not going to let this chance go.

"Kidoumaru."

The man nearly jumped again. Kimimaro felt a flicker of annoyance at this, but watched passively as Kidoumaru glanced over his shoulder to look at the elder, eyes wary. "Yeah?"

"Another date is in order."

And Kidoumaru walked into a tree.

As Kidoumaru spluttered, holding his nose and blinking furiously, Kimimaro continued as though the blunder had not just occurred. "Kabuto previously prescribed weekly dates at different locations, which we have not followed up on. As this is a life-threatening disease and it seems that you are the cure, it would be prudent for you to go on another one of these 'dates' with me tomorrow."

"Um." Kidoumaru cursed briefly before, eyes watering, wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "That was really sudden - "

"As you are the cause of this disease," Kimimaro interrupted, feeling as though he needed to get his point across this instant, "it would be unwise of you to decline - "

"I wasn't declining." Kidoumaru swore again before looking back up at Kimimaro. "Just, you took me by surprise."

Kimimaro felt something jump. He swallowed. "So you will go."

"Yeah, sure." Kidoumaru coughed, then smiled wryly up at the elder. To Kimimaro, it felt as though the disease had just kicked him rather lovingly in his chest. "Have anywhere in mind?"

"It would be best if you chose again." Kimimaro hardly went anywhere besides the compound as it was; Kidoumaru was the more social. They both knew this. Kimimaro was unsure of why Kidoumaru had even bothered to ask.

"Well, there's this great sushi bar over on the east side of the village." Kidoumaru tilted his head. "You up for it?"

"We will meet at six-thirty at the designated location." They had almost reached the compound now; inside, Tayuya's raging could be heard, slurring syllables together. "Is that acceptable?"

Kidoumaru shrugged, then smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Kimimaro nodded. "Tomorrow, then."

"Yep."

They stood there for a moment outside the gate. Kimimaro suddenly remembered the first Date, where he had left Kidoumaru standing at the gate alone while he left to report to Kabuto. As though he remembered too, Kidoumaru shifted slightly backwards, reaching back up to rub his head. Kimimaro watched his fingers, tapered at the callused tips before thickening at the joints. The sudden urge to grab the younger's fingers was fierce, and he had to stuff it down.

Idiotic disease.

And, without another word, he pushed open the gate and, once again, left Kidoumaru standing alone outside of the gate and let the gate clang his goodbyes for him.

* * *

As you can tell, I did not beta this chapter. Decidedly a bad choice, but, eh. Oh well.

But, the second date is here! Tell me what you think might/should happen and what you thought of this chapter. I realize it's kind of choppy, but that comes with abandoning a story for a few months, I suppose.

Reviews are not necessary, but ultimately loved. :)


	6. Kidoumaru, the sushi bar

"You're late."

Kidoumaru laughed, managing not to expose the fact that every one of his nerves was stretched to the breaking point. Or that he was trying his best not to run far, far away from the very, very stony face of Kimimaro. "Only by a few minutes."

Kimimaro looked distinctly un-amused. Then again, he always had. "Is that customary?"

Somewhere within his gut, Kidoumaru felt a twinge of fear. "It's called being fashionably late. You should try it sometime." He flashed a small smile to the Kaguya, hoping that it would cause the elder to stop staring at him. It didn't.

"I do not see how it is fashionable to be late."

Kidoumaru struggled to keep his face smooth while quickly glancing around the outside of the bar. Hookers and their clients staggered out its doors, while elder shinobi and normal citizens strolled in. Homeless children scampered around the corner of the bar, hoping to find some morsels thrown out by overstuffed customers. For a moment, Kidoumaru considered grabbing one of them and plopping the scrawny thing down in front of Kimimaro as a sacrifice to save his spidery behind. But that would have taken effort.

Instead, he smiled a little bit further and jerked his head towards the entrance of the bar. "How 'bout I tell you inside?"

It took them around twenty minutes to be seated, mainly because it was a Friday, which was when everyone who was anyone in Otogakure found themselves in desperate need of inebriation. Sushi was just an added bonus.

The wait probably would have taken them even longer if Kimimaro hadn't sent one of his patented stares of green frost towards the server for making him stand so long.

As soon as they were seated, Kimimaro's eyes snapped right back onto Kidoumaru's face. Kidoumaru suddenly felt as though he were being doused in an ice bath.

Don't be a wimp, Kidoumaru! The little voice in the back of his head shrieked. Get it together! Break the ice!

At this point, the encouragement seemed rather literal.

"Y'know, if you keep staring at me like that, I actually might start to think that I'm attractive," Kidoumaru finally ground out cheerfully.

He'd only meant it sarcastically, of course. So he really hadn't expected Kimimaro's reaction to be so – well – serious. Then again, Kimimaro was socially inept.

Kimimaro's brow furrowed, a vaguely troubled look crossing his features. "Do you not perceive yourself as such?"

Kidoumaru blinked, then shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"It shows that you have the ability to correctly observe your situation and surroundings." Kimimaro didn't even glance up as the server arrived, keeping his eyes trained on Kidoumaru. "I was not aware that you had such difficulty in these areas."

"Um – " Both Kidoumaru and the server started to speak; Kidoumaru positively jumped at the opportunity and grinned at the server, a young girl with pale, stringy hair. He took a moment of satisfaction in watching her complexion turn pink with embarrassment before speaking. "'Sup?"

"Um…" The girl fidgeted with her pen as she stared at Kidoumaru. He was fairly certain that this was only because Kimimaro's stare was very, very intimidating. "Do you all want anything to drink?"

Kidoumaru turned back to Kimimaro, trying not to shudder at Kimimaro's (now troubled) stare. "Do you?"

"No."

"Just one sake, then, please." Hey, he might get drunk, but better to deal with Kimimaro then, right? And the water here was poisonous. Worse than cyanide, most probably.

As the server wandered to the next table, he locked eyes with Kimimaro again deliberately, fearing that the gaze had become malicious. He was rather pleased to see that it remained just as puzzled as ever. Not that Kimimaro confused was ever a good thing – it was just that a confused Kimimaro was better than an irritated one any day of the week.

"So," he started to say, as the atmosphere was starting to get slightly uncomfortable. "So, uh—"

"I do not understand," Kimimaro interrupted, "how you have managed to survive for so long with this lack of basic understanding."

"Well, Tayuya always said that I was a dumb bastard."

"Tayuya should take more care in attempting to better herself in subtlety."

Ouch. Kidoumaru couldn't help but scratch his head, at a loss of what to say before, suddenly –

He stopped, feeling a numb sensation spread throughout his body as the whole point of the conversation hit him straight in the face.

Kimimaro was saying that Kidoumaru was attractive.

That was impossible. No way. Kidoumaru was fairly sure that the day Kimimaro found anyone attractive would be the day that Orochimaru would declare that he liked girls. Then again, after all that had happened so far (not much in 'normal' dating time, he supposed, but to him it had seemed like years), Kidoumaru wasn't as surprised as he probably would have been before.

Or Kabuto put Kimimaro up to it.

For some reason, that irked Kidoumaru.

"Do you want to look at the menu?" he finally said after a long stretch of silence. "I mean, we are here, so."

"I am not hungry."

"It's rude not to."

Kimimaro made the equivalent of a shrug, which was mostly furrowing his brows further. Kidoumaru had the sudden, terrifying urge to reach over and smooth out his forehead because damn, the guy was not going to be happy later when he got wrinkles the size of canyons. "If you must."

Perhaps Kimimaro had missed out on the key 'we' in Kidoumaru's sentence, but hell, Kidoumaru wasn't going to say anything. Well, not yet, anyway. It's not like he had Kimimaro's seemingly permanent duct tape over his own mouth.

"Cool," he finally said before looking down at the measly paper in front of him that listed seriously overpriced meals (though they were, in fact, quite delicious).

After ordering and sitting in awkward silence with Kimimaro for about ten to twenty minutes, the food finally arrived in all of its fishy perfection. Kidoumaru just about picked up his chopsticks before glancing up at Kimimaro –

Who still had not moved a single inch since he had sat down.

Kidoumaru felt a small current of irritation run through him. Here he was, paying for all this crap, having to deal with this judgmental, socially challenged ass, and the guy couldn't even have the decency to try and eat. He wasn't doing this for his health. Hell, he would probably be better off dead and rotting. At least then he would be contributing to the environment.

"Y'know," he said carefully, keeping a tactful smile on his face. "It's polite to eat something on a date, even if you're not hungry." Didn't the guy remember the ramen thing from a month or so ago? If he didn't, then he really was seriously brain damaged.

After the Kaguya continued to sit like a dead fish (no pun intended), Kidoumaru jerked his head towards the food. "So…?"

There was a shadow of doubt on Kimimaro's face as he picked up his chopsticks. Gracefully, he plucked up the oshizushi and, with a moment's pause, took a deliberate bite.

Kidoumaru carefully began chewing on a piece of sushi as well, calculating Kimimaro's facial expressions (limited as they were) and trying to ensure that he would at least get a head start when Kimimaro went into rage mode.

He'd been nervous after the first 'date,' too, mostly because he wasn't sure if Kimimaro had actually been satisfied with it or not, especially after the guy had slammed the gate in Kidoumaru's face. Not to mention that for weeks after, they hadn't said a word to each other in the hall. Kimimaro had barely even looked at Kidoumaru since. The younger shinobi wasn't sure what sort of advice Kabuto had given Kimimaro, but it must have been pretty stupid.

"Do you like it?" He finally asked, after about two minutes of Kimimaro slowly chewing. Kidoumaru was starting to feel fairly stupid for even agreeing to this in the first place.

'_Brains_,' his ass. Tayuya was right. Strategy was one thing. Common sense was a totally different level of intelligence. One that Kidoumaru somehow had failed to developed.

Kimimaro finally swallowed his mouthful of rice and fish before, finally:

"It is decent."

Kidoumaru sighed in relief around his own mouthful of sushi. So maybe he wasn't going to die after all.

They ate in silence for a while. Kidoumaru would have made an effort to make conversation, but the buzz of voices made enough noise for both of them to handle. Besides, it was sort of comfortable this way. Better than Kidoumaru having to say awkward things and Kimimaro retaliate with another awkward thing that would end up with the latter staring intensely and the former looking around nervously, hoping that he wouldn't end up dying.

This isn't so bad, he thought as he chewed on a piece of tamago. Kidoumaru noticed that Kimimaro was only touching the oshizushi, but he decided not to say anything and break the spell. Especially since the Kaguya had finally stopped staring at him. This was a good thing. A very good thing.

Just keep on like this, and he could gain Kimimaro's trust. The game could be won. He just had to keep on at this pace and steer clear of Kimimaro's irritation.

For the first time in a while, Kidoumaru felt fully relaxed.

After the check was paid, they walked out into the breeze. It was fairly dark outside, but Kimimaro's hair was so bright under the moon that Kidoumaru was quite easily able to keep track of the elder. It made him wonder how the Kaguya had ever been sent out on a stealth mission in the first place. He was too easily noticed.

He set at a steady pace behind Kimimaro as they walked further away from the bustle and lights and into the gloomier area of Otogakure (which wasn't very hard to do, as Kimimaro was walking slower than usual). They were close enough that Kimimaro could feel the warmth coming off of the elder. A few warning buttons began flashing red here, but he shoved them away. He wasn't that close. Not enough to constitute Kimimaro to turn around and slice off his ba—

Suddenly, Kimimaro stopped.

Kidoumaru braked just in time to stop himself from colliding with the elder.

"Uh…" The silence didn't feel that comfortable anymore.

Kimimaro barely twitched. Kidoumaru couldn't see his face, and he kept that in mind as he carefully edged around to the Kaguya's side. "Hey," he said, warning bells going off in his brain. "You oka—"

Now Kidoumaru stopped.

Kimimaro had turned a rather lovely shade of green.

And as Kidoumaru continued to stare, Kimimaro lunged forward and, with his hand clasped to his mouth, upheaved the oshizushi into the dust.

* * *

So that went over well. I mean, it could have been worse, right?

Yeah, I take that back.

Anyways: merry late Christmas! Hope you all had a fantastic time and ate a bunch of good food (without, hopefully, getting poisoned like poor Kimimaro. First the crush, now bad oshizushi. When will the inhumanity end?).

Peace~


	7. Kimimaro, the confessions

Sometime after Kimimaro resurfaced from unconsciousness, he swore that he was going to murder Kidoumaru.

And then backtracked, because then that would mean that he would never be cured from this petty disease.

But it was quite tempting. Kidoumaru had deliberately taken him to a restaurant that sold raw fish, a ploy that was meant to kill Kimimaro (at least, he was certain of it at the moment—it was rather hard to think around the heat swarming in his brain around the green clouds of disease). He had forced him into eating the stuff, and while it had tasted quite good, Kimimaro made a silent oath that he was never going to eat anything from the sea ever again. He would stick to Kabuto's strict diet of vegetables and meat from now on. Nothing else. Anything else would kill him, or at least come alive to kill him and then feast on his flesh while Kidoumaru laughed on in triumph.

Kimimaro was now sure that he was delirious. "What injustice," he mumbled, pressing his face further into the vehicle that was moving at least twenty miles over the speed limit. Was there a speed limit in Otogakure? There should be, Kimimaro decided. A nice speed limit, one that would stay close to the natural pace of ants and beetles and be able to fly over the heads of all the tigers that would threaten to eat such lovely creatures as Kidoumaru.

No…perhaps 'lovely' was an overstatement. 'Dashing' would be better. Or 'rogue-ish.'

Yes, rogue-ish was infinitely better than lovely.

"What injustice," Kimimaro sighed again into the seat of the vehicle. At least, he thought it was a seat. It was certainly warmer than a seat, anyway, at least the one that Lord Orochimaru had been generous enough to take him on when he was younger. Young and foolish and still ignorant of the world.

The vehicle made a quiet, panicked sound. Kimimaro scowled.

"Vehicles do not speak," he slurred, tightening his arms around the neck of the vehicle. It spluttered, staggering from side to side before continuing at its normal pace. "Nor do they choke. You need a—a—Kabuto. That is what you need. You must be fixed."

The vehicle snorted. "And here I thought that I was the perfect little darling."

The voice was familiar. Kimimaro frowned. "Only Lord Orochimaru is perfect. The rest are trash beneath his feet."

"Even you?"

"Even me," Kimimaro responded without hesitation, blinking slowly as the haze swirled in front of his eyes. "Especially—especially me."

"Why?"

There was no harm talking to a vehicle, Kimimaro decided after a long pause, and turned his face into the seat once more. It was soft and warm, with the faint scent of sweat. Far from unpleasant.

"I have become weak. I have allowed myself to be overtaken by illness, enough so that I almost died in vain when I battled the soon-to-be Kazekage. I—" Kimimaro stopped, temporarily distracted by the sudden urge to vomit again. He breathed in from his mouth, pressing his cheek further into the seat. "I cannot fight as I once did for Lord Orochimaru. Even though he took me from the cage." Kimimaro blinked back the mist that threatened to overtake his vision. "You should know this. You roam—roam free, on the terrain. You have far more freedom than I. You have no one to serve, to prove to that you are still worthy of his generosity."

The vehicle was silent, still moving at the same dizzying pace. Kimimaro could feel the heat rising from seat of the vehicle, which, Kimimaro suddenly noticed, was tilted at a rather diagonal angle. How strange. How – terrible.

"Who maimed you?" he demanded, suddenly scowling again as the vehicle stumbled against tree roots.

"Maimed me—"

"You are—crooked. Incomplete. You have no doors, no windows. Someone has forgotten to put you back together again."

The vehicle slowed. "Uh…I didn't know that you could wax poetic."

Kimimaro sighed.

And then groaned, because his stomach was gurgling with a desire to purge itself again. This time, far more violently than the first.

"Aw, shit," the vehicle cursed. Suddenly, the seat upended itself, sending a wave of dizziness straight into Kimimaro's temple, causing him to retch violently. "Are you going to puke again? Please don't puke again. We're almost back to the compound, and, uh, you can puke in there. It has toilets, you know. Nice, clean toilets. Better than the ground, most definitely."

Kimimaro frowned and tried to blink around the rolling waves of nausea encompassing his mind. The vehicle (or, what he had thought was the vehicle) was humanoid in shape, and seemed to have…eight extensions?

Yes. Eight. Just like—

"Kidoumaru," Kimimaro mumbled against the bile slowly rising in his throat. "You are…like Kidoumaru."

"I _am_ Kidoumaru. Who do you think you were talking to all this time?"

Kimimaro's brow furrowed. "You…are not the vehicle?"

"If by 'the vehicle,' you mean the guy that basically carried you three miles through the fu—the forest, then yeah, I _am_ the vehicle."

Ah.

Kimimaro laid his head down on the ground, feeling the cold seep in through his cheek. He had a sudden, desperate desire to reach out to Kidoumaru, to claw him closer and chase away the cold (cold, cold, he was so tired of feeling cold).

"It explains the warmth."

"The—oh." Kimimaro couldn't really tell from his addled state of mind, but he thought that the air around Kidoumaru had just increased in temperature. "Yeah. Blood flow does that to you." A pause. "Hey, are you going to puke or can we get a move on? It's almost dawn, now."

The nausea had passed, for the most part. Tiredly, Kimimaro nodded and allowed for Kidoumaru to pick him up again and shift him back onto his back.

As they set off again, Kimimaro felt a sudden surge of panic.

"You will speak of this to no one," he forced out, hating how it sounded slurred and non-threatening. "You will not—_disclose_ of the information that we discussed earlier. Any of it."

"Wasn't planning on it."

"_Any of it_."

"Hey, hey, cool it. Seriously, cool it. Your temperature's going through the roof. I won't tell anyone anything, I swear."

"Good."

They went on in silence for a while, and Kimimaro found himself beginning to doze off. The moon (how had he not noticed the moon?) tilted and swirled within his vision, dancing in the haze of his drowsiness. He could feel the warmth of Kidoumaru's back sinking into the side of his mouth, and while he was, in fact, aware of the…intimateness of such postures, Kimimaro decided that for now, he would accept the situation at hand and simply try and forget about it in the morning.

And underneath him, Kidoumaru trudged on.

* * *

Or, where deep, deep feelings are revealed (and possible foreshadowing? Possibly). Also, sentimentality and delusional Kaguyas.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been super busy with school and stuff (and words and things), so...my writing's probably a lot of ways off. I would appreciate feedback. Like, a lot of feedback.

Thanks for reading!


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